Tales of the Hidden Dragons
by Tombman888
Summary: The dragon realms are slowly starting to return to peace. Now, a young dragon has decided it is time to come out of hiding, and head to the great city of Warfang. But not is all well, as he discovers his past and a new danger arises.  Oc   original chars
1. The beginning

Tales of the Hidden Dragons.

Chapter One: The beginning

It has been a month since The Dark Master had been defeated, and the war that ravaged the lands has ended. A month since the world was shattered by The Destroyer, and then restored to its former glory. A month since creatures of many species had to live in fear from the many dangers of the world.

But, it has been 5 years before a young dragon had finally left the cave in which he was hiding.

Inside the caves of the mountain range, a dragon, 15 years of age, ran around. He was gathering the few possessions he owned; which wasn't much. The only items he owned he had found on previous trips, which-when he thought about it- was too long ago to remember. He carefully placed them in a sheet of cloth, which he then carefully tied into a bag by knotting the corners together tightly. The only item he kept outside the bag was an old map that he had found in a deserted campsite. Satisfied that the bag was tight enough, he left them for a moment to check outside.

As he walked outside, the suns bright rays blinded him. His eyes were adjusted to the darkness of the caverns in which he had lived for so long. He could barely remember the light of day shining in his bright green eyes, the warmth of the sun on his vivid, cobalt scales. His memories of the light making his white horns glisten and the smell of fresh air in the wind were all so blurry. The three scarlet scars on his left legs shoulder lit up in the sun's rays. He breathed slowly, expanding his brilliant, silver chest. "Well, today's the day."

He ran inside and grabbed his belongings in his mouth, and the map in his right claw, then returned outside and sat, enjoying the sun for a little while longer. After he was satisfied, he picked up his belongings, and took to the sky's. He was glad that he decided to practice flying before he set off, as he had never had the chance to inside the confined spaces of the caves. It felt good to be flying again.

He set out with one goal in mind, and that was to find the dragon city of Warfang. He had never been there before, as the trip to Warfang from the mountains was a dangerous one, filled with The Dark Master's minions. But now that the war was over, he flew peacefully towards the city he had only heard tales of.

He thought to himself as he glided in the direction the old map had shown him._ "Look out Warfang, here comes Caldor."_

It's now mid-day; Caldor had been flying for almost four hours, his wings aching from the time spent in the air. Leaving the mountains behind, he was now flying over an open grass field with very few tree's or bushes. There was a river running in a straight line heading the same way he was going. He finally decided to stop, and check where he was. He landed on the soft grass on three legs, almost toppling over as he tried to prevent any damage to the map. He released the bag from his mouth and decided that this would be as good as any other spot to take a quick rest.

Heading towards the river to get a drink, Caldor's mind was filled with thoughts about what the dragon city would be like. All of the tales he was told all varied in description of what the city looked like. Would it be a dark, war torn city with few inhabitants, or would it be a peaceful paradise bustling with activity. One thing he knew about the city for certain, was that it was huge. No story had failed to mention that detail.

After he was no longer thirsty, Caldor headed back to where he left his map, and then spread it out over the ground, carefully checking where he was.

"According to this, I should be about a day's flight from the city. I'll spend the night near this valley, and then continue on in the morning, so, I should make it in about… just over a day and a half. Perfect." He said feeling satisfied with his plan. "It's a good thing that the evil purple dragon is gone, or else I probably never would have made it this far." Caldor laughed softly to himself. "I just hope the dragons inside Warfang aren't un-trusting of outsiders."

Caldor rolled up the map, collected his belongings, and set off again in the direction of the valley, which on the map, was clearly labeled "the Valley of Avalar."

As he was flying, his thoughts were drawn once again to what the city would look like, who he would meet there, what their reactions would be to see him approaching. He thought long and hard, hundreds of possibilities in his head, so hard in fact, that he almost forgot to look where he was flying, and almost collided into one of the few trees on the plain. Although no-one was around to see, he still thought it would have been silly to have collided with an inanimate object. He laughed the thought away, and gazed at the horizon, seeing that he was approaching a forest, he raised his altitude, so to avoid running into any more trees.

The river he was following started to twist and turn through the trees; Caldor found that he had to fly lower, just under the tree tops, so he didn't lose sight of the river. He couldn't afford to get himself lost; the river was his only guide he had to the valley. Soon, the trees became too close for him to continue flying, and keep track of the river at the same time. He knew he couldn't walk with the map in his paw, so, he held the map in his tail instead. Caldor walked next to the river, taking in the sights and sounds of the local wildlife. In the trees, birds were chirping and fluttering about, while small creatures were scurrying through the bushes. Caldor peered into the river as he walked, he noticed that a small group of fish decided to swim by as he had looked, but were soon gone.

The trees finally opened up again, allowing the dragon to take flight once more. He had lost valuable time during his walk, so he pushed himself to reach the valley on schedule. Luckily, he was able to regain his lost time and found himself back on schedule.

When Caldor had finally arrived at the Valley, the sky was dark. However, this wasn't a problem for him, as his eyes, which had been adjusted to the darkness of the caves, were still able to see quite clearly. He could vaguely make out the surroundings, but not well enough to be able to see what they were. He decided he would figure out in the morning, and searched for a place to sleep. He found himself a small grove to sleep in, covered by thick bushes and surrounded by trees. Laying down his bag and map, Caldor curled up and dropped his head onto the soft grass, letting out a long yawn, his eyes closed from exhaustion, and before he knew it, he was already fast asleep.

"_Ha ha, you'll never catch me."_

"_Oh yea, just you wait"_

"_I'm telling you you'll never ca- huh? Where'd you go?"_

"_Boo!"_

"_Ahh."_

"_Ha, you're it, tee hee."_

"_Wait till I get my hands on you."_

"_I'd like to see you try"_

"_Hey, where are you going?"_

"_Come on, it'll be fun."_

"_But the elders told us not to go there."_

"_Pfft, what could possibly happen?"_

"_Look out!"_

"_Aaaaahh!"_

"_Noooooo! "_

Caldor woke with a shock, his brow sweating and his heart beating rapidly.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream." He reassured himself.

Breathing heavily, he slowly tried to remember what the dream was about; he knew the voices sounded familiar, but he just couldn't remember who they belonged to. He sat there for a solid 10 minutes before finally giving up, telling himself that he would leave it for another time.

Caldor walked out of the small grove where he had slept, to see that the sun was just rising over the distant horizon, allowing him to see the Valley clearly for the first time. It was larger than he had guessed, but not by much. The river flowed right through the centre of the valley, twisting around bends and rock formations. The grass was tall and soft, there were multiple flowers' spread all through the valley, and many bushes bearing, what Caldor believed to be, fruit. The valley was surrounded on all sides by tall trees, so close together their branches were touching, forming a natural wall around the valley.

The landmark that caught his eye the most was the great waterfall in the centre of the valley, watching it as the water fell down, then splashed into the river below, causing a fine white spray. Leaving his belongings in the grove, he flew over to the foot of the waterfall, and gazed upwards in awe. He then submerged his head under the flowing water, and felt it run down the scales on his neck and back. The water was cold, causing him to send a quick, small shiver down his spine. He stepped out from underneath the falls, and shook his head dry.

Feeling refreshed by the water's of the fall's, he wondered over to the bushes containing a large spherical object that Caldor believed to be fruit. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever tried a fruit before. Such plants and foods didn't grow in the mountains, and he had to live on eating rats, lizards and scraps he found in deserted camps. He picked it out of the tree with his claws, allowing the juice to squirt out of where his claws had pierced the fruits skin. He sat down with the fruit in hand, and proceeded to take a large bite out of it.

Caldor scrunched up his face at the very taste of the fruit; never had he tasted something so sweet. He sat there rolling his face for a few moments before he finally swallowed the bite of fruit. And yet, he enjoyed it, so much so that he quickly devoured the rest of the fruit in his hand and reached for another one. After two more pieces, Caldor finally decided it was time to head off for Warfang.

As he was walking back to the grove, he went over his flight plan for about the fifth time.

"Ok, so if I leave now, I should be able to make it to Warfang just before the sun starts to set, giving me enough time to enter the city and get to know what it's like before its dark."

But, as the dragon entered the grove where he had left all his belongings, he was left there standing with a shock. His bag and map were both missing. With unbelieving eyes, Caldor quickly started to search the small area he had slept in, believing that they were still there, quickly shifting his eyes from one spot to another, desperately trying to find his possessions. Then, he heard a rustle in the bushes. He turned his neck around slowly, scanning the area for where the sound had come from. But before he could find out, he was smashed in the face with a large object, the blow caused him to be knocked to the ground where he started to slowly lose consciousness, until finally, he passed out.

"_The elders told us not to go down there. You heard of what they spoke of, dark creatures that hunt helpless dragons and take them away"_

"_Pfft, you believe that story? Please. If anything was down there, don't you think we would have noticed it by now?"_

"_Maybe, but they could be hiding, come on, let's turn back now, before we get in trouble."_

"_What, too scared? Aw, that's too bad, seems I'll just have to explore by myself"_

"_Me? Scared? No way, it's just that I have a bad feeling."_

"_What could possibly happen?"_

"_Shh, did you hear that?"_

"_Hear what?"_

"_There it is again, it sounded like… Look out!"_

"_What the- aaaaahh"_

"_Noooooo!"_

**[DISCLAIMER] I do not own or hold any rights to the legend of Spyro. All characters (besides my own (e.g. Caldor)) respectfully belong to their rightful creators/owners.**


	2. Enemies and allies

Tales of the Hidden Dragons.

Chapter Two: enemies and allies

Slowly opening his eyes, his head still pounded from the fierce blow he had taken. His vision blurred, Caldor tried to look around for who, or what, had taken him by surprise. He heard footsteps, someone was coming. Caldor felt a hand grab his horn, he grunted as his head was pulled up to face who was holding him. Caldor looked at what was holding him, a creature like no other he had ever seen before. The creature was a twisting combination of roots and rock, and had long, twig like arms and legs; it was fairly small, and its red eyes were dug into its head. Caldor could see that there was more than one, far more. He looked around as he was being held, seeing about fourteen more of the creatures, all gathered around a campsite.

After the creature had a good look at Caldor, it finally let go of him. It threw him to the ground, and walking off the join its companions. Caldor tried to get up, but only succeeded in being yanked back to the ground by something around his neck. Looking down, he saw that attached to his neck, was a long steel chain, which connected him to a post about two meters away from the camp. His spirits dampened, and only got worse as he noticed that his bag and map were also in the campsite. The creatures must have taken it while he was gone, then waited to see if anyone would return. Caldor felt like a fool, thinking that all was safe, he let his guard down, and now look where it has gotten him.

The creatures were now rummaging through the bag, looking at all his belonging, then tossing them aside as they realized they were just pieces of junk. The only thing they didn't touch, was his map, guessing that they must already know what it was, they couldn't be bothered looking at it. After tossing aside all his belongings, finding nothing worthwhile, they made a grunting noise, and carried on patrolling their site.

Seeing no chance of escape, Caldor dropped his head down between his legs. He could feel the dried blood on his face that had obviously came from the swing the creatures took at him in the grove. Suddenly, he looked at the sky, remembering that he had no idea what the time was. The sky was a pale red, meaning that the day was gone, and night was setting in. "Damn it, that's the whole day gone." He muttered to himself. _"Not that it matters. My whole life is probably gone now."_ The grim thought played on his mind for the next few hours, where he just laid there waiting for whatever came next.

It was dark. Caldor had been watching the camp for the remainder of the day, watching as the creatures slowly fell asleep around the campfire. Only a few remained awake, no doubt to make sure he didn't try to escape during the night; not that it mattered. Caldor could find no way to break out of the camp without alerting any of the creatures awake, or asleep. So instead, he tried to fall asleep too.

Only a few minutes had passed before he heard it. Footsteps, but these were different. They were softer, taken with more care, and most importantly, they came from the bushes from the sides of the camp. He looked at the guards, seeing if they had noticed the sound too, but they hadn't. Just as he was thinking, an arrow shot out from bushes, and landed right into one of the creature chests. The shock and pain from the arrow caused the guard to growl and grunt in pain. Its companions had woken, startled by the noise; they jumped to their feet, grabbed their weapons, and started to search where the arrow had come from. Just then, more arrows were fired off, all finding their marks in the creatures. They fell one by one, rolling on the ground in pain, before finally dying. Only five creatures remained out of the original fifteen. Knowing that they were no match, they quickly jumped up into the air, and as they hit the ground, they burrowed into the earth.

Caldor sat there, frozen in shock at what just happened, unwilling to move from the shadows in case the newcomers decided to turn on him. After a few tense moments, the strangers stepped out from their hiding spots. There were six of them, all now standing in the middle of the camp. Caldor had a good look at them; they were tall, cloaked figures. In the light of the fire he saw that they had fur and tails; definitely nothing like the creatures that had captured him. Noting that the new arrivers were armed with long, wooden bows, Caldor remained in the dark, hoping that by some stroke of luck, they wouldn't see him. Unfortunately, they did.

Two of them started to walk over to where the dragon was chained. Knowing there was no escape, Caldor quickly got to his feet, ran back as far as the chain would allow, and then he turned and lowered his head, preparing for them to attack. He knew he had no hope of taking them out, the arrows would kill him before he could get anywhere near the newcomers. But nonetheless, he prepared anyway, he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Stand down friend, you have no need to fear us" One of them spoke.

Caldor didn't move, eyeing him down, looking for any deceit on his face.

"Please, we mean you no harm." He spoke again.

Caldor thought of what he should do. The strangers _did_ just fight off his captors, but he had no way of knowing what these newcomers' intentions were. Seeing only one option before him, the dragon rose from his stance, deciding that it would be best to go along with the stranger's words… for now.

"Now tell us, what is your name?" The other one said.

Caldor hesitated, before finally answering. "My name is Caldor. What's yours?" He asked, trying to learn more about them.

"I am known as Hunter." Replied one of them. "And my name is Meadow." Said the other.

Caldor had just one more question on his mind. "What are you?" Hunter and Meadow looked at each other, then back again.

"We are known as cheetahs." Hunter answered.

"And that leads us up to the present day." Hunter had taken Caldor back to his village to explain what had happened during the past three years. It was a small village, made entirely of wooden huts and a tall tribal poll in the centre. The village was surrounded by a handcrafted log wall, about a head above the cheetah's height. Hunter had taken off his cowl when they had returned. The tall cheetah had golden and white fur, and bright green eyes, almost the same as Caldor's. "Malefor may be defeated, but remnants of his army still wander the lands."

"So, those things that attacked me were called grublins?" Caldor asked.

"Yes, the creatures that made up the majority of Malefor's dark army. They are creatures that show no sympathy for the weak, and still roam the lands praying on unlucky travelers, such as you." Hunter went on to explain. "Although the grublins no longer have a leader, they still fight against us. The dragon guardians and I have been trying to discover why they still have a will to fight, even when they no longer have Malefor's grasp controlling them."

"The dragon guardians? Who are they?" Caldor questioned, his curiosity sparked.

Hunter was surprised at how little the young dragon knew of his own race, but nonetheless, he continued. "The guardians are powerful dragons that are seen as the leaders of the dragon race, the wisest of them all. There is a guardian for each element, fire, ice, electricity, and earth, and each guardian's duty is to teach the next generation of dragons in the ways of the elements."

"Where are the guardians?" Caldor asked, more and more questions surging through his mind.

"They reside in the city of Warfang where-." Hunter was cut off before he could finish.

"Have you been to Warfang before?" Caldor interrupted.

"Yes, I ha-"

"What's it like there?"

"Please, one question at a time" Hunter exclaimed, a little annoyance in his voice.

"Oh, sorry. Continue, please." Caldor apologized; he wasn't trying to get on the cheetahs nerves, but it was probably best if he didn't ask any more questions.

"Where was I… oh yes, the city of Warfang, yes I have been there many times" He continued. "In fact, I was just about to head back there tomorrow, would you like to join me?" Hunter asked.

Caldor thought about the offer, if he had to travel with Hunter, the trip would take longer, as he would no longer be able to fly. However, if he went alone, he could be ambushed by more grublins. The cheetah would serve as valuable protection against any attack.

"Yes, I would, thank you." Caldor accepted the offer.

"Now then, you're sure you're okay? Nothing bruised or broken?" Hunter asked him.

"Nothing besides the scar on my face, but that'll heal over time." It was lucky that he was saved by the Cheetahs when he was; Who knows what else the grublins might have done to him.

"What about those?" Hunter questioned, inspecting the three red scar marks on left shoulder.

"I actually have no idea where I got those from, but I've had them for several years now." The marks had been there for as long as Caldor could remember. They had never hurt, yet never healed either, and what caused them is a complete mystery to him. "But don't worry, they don't hurt at all." The blue dragon finished, running his claws against the scars.

Hunter looked at with a great expression of concern for a few seconds, but quickly shrugged whatever he was thinking of aside.

"Well then, we have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow; let's get some sleep shall we." Hunter stood and started to walk off "Follow me, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

Caldor followed Hunter with his map and bag, both recovered from the grublins campsite. The cheetah even made the effort to re-wrap all of Caldor's belongings back into a bag.

Hunter led the dragon over to one of the wooden huts. "This is where we you'll be sleeping tonight; we have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow, so get some rest." Hunter said, directing Caldor over to the hut. "I'll be back soon; I just have to check on the others." And with that, he walked off towards the other huts.

Caldor laid down his possessions on the side of the hut, and then dropped himself to the ground. The grass wasn't as soft as it was in the grove, but it was still comfortable. _"What an eventful day this was." _He thought to himself. _"I may not have made it to Warfang, but at least I've been able to make some new comrades." _It didn't take long for the dragon to fall asleep; his long, harsh day had him worn out. With one final yawn and blinking of his eyes, he fell sound asleep.

"_Me? Scared? No way, it's just that I have a bad feeling."_ Caldor was having the same dream again, this time, concentrating to remember what happened.

"_Caldor, we'll be fine, seriously what could possibly happen?"_ It was him? Caldor was one the two strangers in his dream. He sounded much younger though, about 10. No wonder he couldn't figure out who it was. Now all he had to do was figure out whom the other stranger was. He already knew that the person is a girl; this was obvious from her voice. She sounded about the same age as him too.

"_Shh, did you hear that?"_

"_Hear what?"_

"_There it is again, it sounded like… footsteps; coming from the bushes."_

"_What are you blabbering about, I don't hear a thing."_

"_If you would just be quiet for a second, you would."_

"_Humph."_

"_Shh, there it is again."_

"_Get them!"_ A new voice appeared.

"_Aah, Caldor what are they."_

"_These must be the creatures the elders told us about; I knew we were being watched."_

"_Capture them, now, do NOT let them escape."_ The voice was coarse as he screeched the order.

"_Quick, run!"_

"_Got it."_

"_Now!"_

"_Aah, what is this?"_

"_Good work boy's, we've got ourselves some dragons."_

"_The blue one, he's escaping, stop him!"_

**[DISCLAIMER] I do not own or hold any rights to the legend of Spyro. All characters (besides my own (e.g. Caldor)) respectfully belong to their rightful creators/owners.**

**(Well now. This story appears to be coming along quite well. I liked writing this chapter; it took me a lot of time to figure out how I was going to introduce Hunter, but I finally got there in the end. Well, better get started on the next one. Please read and review, thanks)**


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